1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoplastic elastomer composition, a method for molding the same and a molded article of the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a moldable thermoplastic elastomer composition comprising a thermoplastic elastomeric block or graft polymer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thermoplastic elastomers have been increasingly used as elastomers which can be molded in a similar way to general thermoplastic resins and require no vulcanization. However, since cross linkage by vulcanization are not through chemical bonds but by physical forces, they are insufficient in heat resistance such as brittleness and an excess residual strain under high pressure at high temperature.
It might be possible to improve such drawbacks by designing such polymers so as to be vulcanizable during molding processes. However, one of inherent characteristics of the thermoplastic elastomers, namely reusability of scraps or defective molded articles is sacrificed, which makes these improvement insignificant.